South Florida Attorney Eric N. Klein

Property Division

Whenever people go through the process of a divorce, there are intense emotions involved. These intense emotions often make it quite difficult to settle the division of property without massive arguments and further disagreements. Fortunately, the state of Florida has tried to create laws that will help with the property division process and allow for some of the intense emotions to be left out of negotiations or hearings. Florida, unlike many other states, uses an equitable division of property model rather than the community property model.

Equitable Distribution

By Florida law, property division in a divorce is supposed to be equitable. Under this version of division, any assets acquired during the marriage are considered to be "marital assets." The assumption is that in a divorce, the assets will be split in half, 50/50 with neither side being left at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on which side you're on, this arrangement can be changed due to the presentation of legal arguments during the divorce proceedings.

The reasoning behind the equitable approach to distribution is that both parties of the marriage contribute equal amounts of time, effort, and energy to the household during the marriage. It is logical to assume that property should be divided equally. If one spouse stayed at home to run the house and take care of the kids, their contribution came in the form of raising the children and maintaining the household. More commonly now, both spouses work. One spouse often makes more money than the other spouse. The law regards total salary as a marital asset and so that too is considered equally. The same situation holds true for debts incurred during the marriage. The divorcing parties are equally responsible for making sure those are paid. There are a few limited exceptions to this based on special equity or infidelity but those cases need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis as no two special circumstances are the same.

Common Marital Assets

Marital assets, as defined by Florida law, are any asset acquired by the married couple during the duration of the marriage. They commonly include: stocks and bonds, pensions and annuities, retirement plans (including 401Ks), cars, houses, or real property, businesses, or special equity.

Special Equity, Non-Marital Assets, Marital Assets

The Klein Attorneys help their clients determine what assets are non-marital, what aspects are marital, and where special equity comes into play. Non-marital assets are generally items owned by either spouse prior to the marriage or items willed to a party in the marriage. When the marriage ends, those assets go back to their original owner and are not equally divided. Marital assets are property that is owned by both parties during the marriage. Special equity can be considered whenever a property is owned by one person prior to the marriage but then improved throughout the course of the marriage. These items generally decided by a judge.

Call the Boca Raton family lawyers of Klein Attorneys at 561-353-2600 to learn more property division laws.